Śrī Dēvasēnāpati

DevasenāpatiThis term means Murukan, the consort of Devasenā. Devasenā is the
daughter of the daughter of Indra, but brought up by Iravata, his elephant. Hence she came to be
called Teyvayānai ('divine elephant'). She was given in marriage to Murukan by Indra
at Tirupparankunram (near Madurai). The Kanta Purānam dedicates an entire patalam
(chapter) to the descriptionof the divine marriage.

In the form of Devasenāpati, Murukan is depicted as possessing six
faces and twelve hands. Teyvayānai is embraced by Murukan with one hand on the left side.
Another hand is in the abhaya pose. In the remaining ten hands, he holds the following
weapons: śakti, trident, arrow, sword, club, thunderbolt, cock-flag,
bow, shield and lotus flower.

According to Śrī Tattvanidu, Devasenāpati's form is depicted with
one face, two eyes and four hands. Two hands are in the abhaya mudrā and varadā poses and in the
other two he holds the conch and disc. This peculiar image is enshrined in
Cennimalai.